4. Cal #3
Hesitantly, Griff stepped closer, his gaze locked on the orb.
Cal caught a whiff of some rich, woodsy scent and had to stop himself from breathing deeper.
He watched as Griff extended a hand toward the orb.
His fingers hovered right above its dark violet surface for a moment.
Then, Griff exhaled as if to steel himself and pressed his palm to the top of the orb.
The effect was near instantaneous. The orb abruptly blazed with unholy light.
The empty void in its heart churned into a raging whirlwind.
All the hairs on Cal’s arms stood on end as raw power crackled in the air.
He swore he could hear voices whispering insane gibberish in his mind, and monstrous shapes slithered in the edges of his vision, vanishing the instant he spun his head.
Judging by Griff’s wide eyes and pale face, whatever he saw and heard was at least as bad.
The inspector yanked his hand away, cradling it against his chest as if burned.
The instant he broke contact with the orb, the effect winked out.
The swirling power vanished and the voices quieted, leaving nothing but the empty sphere behind.
Cal stumbled a step back. “What the Void did you do? It’s never reacted like that when I’ve held it!”
“I…I don’t know. All I did was try to get a better sense of its aura.” Griff swallowed. “I’ve never encountered something like this before. This is an incredibly dangerous artifact. Who knows how much damage it could cause in the wrong hands!”
Seeing the stoic inspector so unsettled left Cal even more ill at ease. Not that he had any intention of letting the inspector see that.
Plastering on a cocky grin, he shrugged and took a shallow bow. “Well, then, you’re welcome. Glad to have done my civic duty by getting it off the streets. Now that you’ve gotten what you came for, I guess you’d better hurry up and let me go so you can go take care of it.”
Griff leveled him with a flat look. “How magnanimous of you.” He snatched the orb from Cal’s grip. Thankfully, it remained dormant this time. “I’ll make sure this ends up with the proper authorities. Now, come on.”
He resumed his stride down the hall, quickening his pace.
Cal yelped as the cuff on his wrist dragged him after Griff. “Wait!” he sputtered. “You can’t do that!”
Griff didn’t slow. “And why not? Seems to me like if I’m getting one danger to the city off the streets, I might as well bring in another.”
“That would be true…if you could be certain you trusted who you’d be handing us over to.”
Cal held his breath, praying to the Dark that Griff took the bait. He bit back a relieved sigh when Griff stopped near the top of the stairs. He glanced back at Cal with a frown.
“All right, I’ll bite. What are you talking about?”
“The person I stole that relic off of was a masked protector. And they definitely weren’t working alone.
They were tossing around enough money to justify payment via an account transfer at the Treasury, and I overheard them tell Bald Locke something about helping the orb evade Customs. That means someone else higher up the food chain has to be involved.
You bring this in, and who knows what’ll happen! ”
Cal certainly didn’t. For all he knew, his guesses were wildly off-base. But he didn’t need to be right. He didn’t even need Griff to believe him, not entirely. All he needed was for the inspector to feel even the slightest hint of doubt.
Griff scowled and turned back toward the stairs. Cal’s stomach sank. Well, at least he’d tried to buy himself some more time. He still had the walk across the city to find a way to wriggle out of this.
He waited for the inspector to start down the stairs. When Griff didn’t move, he allowed himself a small glimmer of hope. Perhaps he could reason with the inspector after all.
“That’s certainly a troubling claim,” Griff said at last. “I’ll make sure to mention your concerns to my superiors…when I bring you in.”
Ooor, maybe he was giving the inspector too much credit. Time to ham it up and see if he could drive the point home.
“Seriously?” He gave a derisive snort. “I know you inspectors are all about authority and rules, but if someone in your own office is involved, who knows how far the conspiracy reaches? How can you be certain your superiors aren’t involved?”
“Impossible,” Griff said. Still, he made no move to proceed down the stairs.
Got him.
Cal flashed a bright smile. “Come on, Inspector. You know I’m right. You can’t risk bringing the orb—or, by extension, me—in until you know for certain if what I’m saying is true. You need more information.”
Griff eyed him skeptically. “How do I know you aren’t just saying this to save your own skin?”
Cal shrugged. “Obviously I’m saying it to save my skin. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
Projecting an air of confidence, he ambled over to join Griff by the stairs. He started to lean on the rickety railing beside him, but when it gave an ominous creak, he hurriedly stepped back and settled for crossing his arms.
“How about a deal?” Cal said. “I help you get to the bottom of that orb and figure out who else is involved in the conspiracy. And in exchange, you let me go.”
It was a bold gambit, even for him. He fully expected Griff to refuse.
What sane member of the Watch would willingly take a deal with a known criminal, especially one they’d been hunting for years?
The only reason Cal had even proposed such an arrangement was in the hopes it might buy him more time to escape.
Which was why he was flabbergasted when, after an intent few moments of thought, Griff grimaced and gave a single curt nod, sticking out his hand. “I know I’m going to regret this,” he said with a heavy sigh. “But you have a deal.”
Cal stared at the proffered hand, sure he must be hallucinating. Yet the inspector’s calloused grip felt real enough when he took it, his fingers pleasantly warm against Cal’s.
It’s a trick—it has to be. Obviously, the inspector was lying. He must think Cal would be more likely to cooperate if he believed they had a deal in place. No doubt he intended to double-cross Cal the instant their investigation concluded.
But that was fine with him. Frequent association with other criminals had left him used to such things.
Helping the inspector look into the orb’s origins would still buy him the extra time he’d wanted to find a way out of the cuff.
And besides, he had to admit that working alongside the very inspector who’d been hunting him sounded like an amusing diversion.
“Good choice,” Cal said. He feigned nonchalance, as if he’d never expected anything else. “You can call me Cal. If you want to know more about the orb, the Brotherhood seems like the natural place to start. And as it turns out, I know how to get you right into Bald Locke’s office.”
Griff frowned at him. “I tried that earlier today. Bald Locke’s not exactly keen to talk to an inspector, and I don’t have that power of yours to disguise myself.”
“Don’t worry,” Cal said with a wave of his hand. “Leave all that to me. I already told you, I can get us inside.”
Griff still looked doubtful. He cast a meaningful look back toward the unconscious thugs visible through the open doorway. “How? I’m pretty sure the Brotherhood wants your head on a spike right now.”
Cal smirked. “Exactly. And you’re going to give it to them.”